Noises Off! Review

So, finally Noises Off! got a proper review in Valley Theater Reviews! My boss just told me about it today, and I am mentioned!!! I am really excited! Pippen is mentioned too! Below is the link, but I also put the review! YAY! We close this weekend, so if you have the chance, come and see it!

http://valleytheatrereviews.wordpress.com/2008/09/24/noises-off-spotlight-theatre-in-bakersfield/

Noises Off! @ Spotlight Theatre in Bakersfield

I suppose one testament of a good show is when you FINALLY sit down to write it up almost TWO WEEKS later, you still giggle at some of the antics you witnessed onstage.

With my profoundest apologies for not getting to this review sooner, I can honestly say that Spotlight Theatre’s current production of Noises Off! is well, acted, well paced and a well spent evening in the theatre.

This show is highly technical and requires athletic timing and precision to land the jokes (as do all farces), and the fact that this cast succeeds is a real testament to their determination and talent. Already a tough show to do, this Noises Off lost its Lloyd (the “director” in the fictional theatrical production that is at the center of the play) due to a horrifying car accident. Luckily, the original actor will pull through, but that left company artistic director, Hal Friedman, to step into the role with only three days to prepare before opening.

By the Sunday of the second weekend, when I saw it, the audience would have thought that Friedman had been part of the ensemble all along.

The Spotlight has a lovely little space, but it can feel very cramped and crowded due to its tiny stage and wall of stadium seating. But this production– which needed desperately to use every square inch it could find– stages it well. During the first act, in which a rehearsal is playing out before our eyes, the lights remain up over the audience and Friedman’s Lloyd (as well as a few other actors in the story) use the house as their playing space. Since that is the director’s domain in rehearsal it makes sense. It also give the production a tremendously open and transparent feel. As a theatre practitioner, I felt as though I were sitting in on another director’s rehearsal and watching the politics and tensions common to any ensemble unfold.

And anyone who has been involved in theatre knows intimately the characters and situations in that first act– well, throughout the play, really– and cringes with recognition. But to this production’s credit, beyond the first act I didn’t dwell on my own experiences, but rather got caught up in those on the stage. Director Jarred Clowes seems to have channeled his ensemble’s experiences within the rehearsal process to fuel the production onstage, which is a testament to his ability to lead and focus a disparate group of actors. It is far too easy to let the metadramatic aspects of this play overwhelm the direction and watch it go spinning out of control.

Standouts in the production are the aforementioned Friedman; Kathryn Brinkley (as Dotty), with a broadly comedic face and a Carol Burnett inspired mop-maid ensemble that underscores her ascerbic character; Brian Sivesind (as Freddy), whose “dumb-but-sensitive guy” routine can only be pulled off with a smart acting technique; and Jeny Rendt-Scott Sanchez who is charmingly quirky in her smallish role of stage manager, Poppy. But, in fact, each of these actors had the help and support of an entire cast of energetic, sympathetic and very, very funny characters.

And Kudos must also be given to the technical crew of Noises Off! Building and reversing a two-level stage complete with stairs and door slamming in a stage 25feet wide, 17 feet deep and 14 feet high is a bear, but these folks pulled it off. And they worked their asses off doing it!